HOLLYWOOD (Variety) -
Canada's Lions Gate Entertainment has
picked up North American rights to the
documentary
"Mr.
Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A.
Leuchter Jr.,"
and plans to release it later this
year.

The picture is about Leuchter,
an engineer who designs and repairs gas
chambers, electric chairs and lethal
injection systems. The mild-mannered
eccentric investigated the use of poison
gas in WWII Nazi concentration camps. His
controversial findings, which have become
required reading for Holocaust deniers,
eventually led to his ruin.

"Death," which debuted as a
work-in-progress at the Sundance Film
Festival in January, has already received
much press attention including a lengthy
New Yorker feature earlier this year. The
copious press coverage was unusual for an
independent film that did not yet have a
domestic distributor.

The film was directed by Errol
Morris, whose other documentary
credits include 1997's "Fast, Cheap &
Out of Control," 1992's "A Brief History
of Time" and 1988's "The Thin Blue
Line."

LIONS Gate
Entertainment has purchased all North
American rights to world-renowned
award-winning filmmaker Errol
Morris's newest work,
Mr.
Death: The Rise and Fall of Fred A.
Leuchter, Jr.
The announcement was made today by Tom
Ortenberg and Mark Urman,
co-presidents of Lions Gate's film
releasing division.

Mr. Death
debuted to great acclaim at
this year's Sundance Film Festival and
will be released by Lions Gate later in
the year.

Mr.
Death tells the story of
Fred A. Leuchter, Jr., an engineer
who decided to become the "Florence
Nightingale of Death Row." His mission was
to design and repair gas chambers,
electric chairs and lethal injection
systems. But Leuchter became infamous for
his work with anti-Holocaust writer
Ernst Zundel, who commissioned
Leuchter to conduct a forensic
investigation into the use of poison gas
in WWII Nazi concentration camps.
Leuchter's controversial findings
eventually hypothesized that the Holocaust
never happened. He fully expected his
involvement with Zundel to be the crowning
achievement of his career; instead, it
ruined him.

Of the acquisition, Mr. Urman said,
"Mr.
Death is the culmination of
Errol Morris's career thus far, and is
further proof that he is one of the most
inventive and exciting filmmakers working
today."

Mr. Ortenberg added, "Errol Morris has
created a motion picture genre all his
own, and Mr.
Death is the most provocative
and accessible of all his great
films."

"Mr.
Death
expresses a number of important
political and social issues," said Mr.
Morris. "I think it's a film - even
more than The Thin Blue Line or any
other film that I've made - that will
prompt discussion and interest, and I
wanted it to reach the widest possible
audience. And Lions Gate has made a
commitment to do just that. They see
it, as I do, not as a specialized film,
but rather a film that could attract a
much broader audience than anything
I've done before."

Mr. Morris's award-winning credits as a
director/producer include Fast Cheap &
Out of Control (1998 Truer Than Fiction
Independent Spirit Award); A Brief History
of Time (1992 Sundance Filmmakers Trophy
and Grand Jury Prize); and The Thin Blue
Line.

Mr. Death: The
Rise and Fall of Fred A. Leuchter,
Jr. was produced by David
Collins, Michael Williams and
Dorothy Aufiero and executive
produced by attorney/producers
representative John Sloss. The deal
was negotiated by Urman and Ortenberg on
behalf of Lions Gate, with Sloss of Sloss
Law representing the film.

Lions Gate Entertainment is celebrating
two Academy Awards for its 1998 releases,
Gods and Monsters (winner of the Best
Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Bill
Condon) and Affliction (for which
James Coburn won an Oscar for Best
Supporting Actor). Upcoming titles on
Lions Gate's release slate include the
prize-winning The Red Violin, directed by
Francois Girard, starring Samuel
L. Jackson, Greta Scacchi, Jason
Flemyng and Don McKellar; Mr.
McKellar's own award-winning
apocalyptic romance, Last Night; and
Francis Veber's Cesar-winning
French comedy sensation, The Dinner
Game.

Lions Gate recently wrapped production
on American Psycho, Mary Harron's
adaptation of the controversial novel that
stars Christian Bale, Reese
Witherspoon and Willem Dafoe.
The film will be released this winter.

The company's most recent acquisition,
Peter Greenaway's 8 1/2 Women, starring
John Standing, Matthew Delamere, Polly
Walker, Amanda Plummer, Toni Collette
and Vivian Wu, was recently
announced in Cannes and will be released
later this year.

LIONS GATE
ENTERTAINMENT CORP. (AMEX/TSE:LGF)
develops, produces and distributes a wide
range of film and television content.
Through its four main operating groups -
motion pictures, television, animation,
and studio facilities - the distinctive
Lions Gate brand is recognized throughout
North America and around the
world.